I was still doing the dishes when Michael came home later that day.
He stopped in the kitchen's doorway and looked at me with a surprised expression. Reasonable when considering that I was doing something I really neither had to nor wanted – but I had decided to be a nice guest since he allowed to me stay at his home for a year for free.
So here I was, soaked in dishwater while my hands were safely protected by big yellow rubber gloves I had found. I needed them if I didn't want my hands to look like they belonged to an old man rather than a fresh sixteen year old boy.
"Wow," Michael said once he had taken in his surroundings. "I didn't ask you to do this, did I?"
"Nope. I got the idea completely on my own," I replied. Michael nodded, clearly impressed with my commitment.
He went over to the dining table and sat down. "Thanks, Kiri," he said with a lowered voice. I almost missed it with all the noise I was making. "I never got around to do the dishes lately."
I raised a brow. "You mean for the past five months," I said, holding up a molded piece of bread that had been hiding between two plates. "This is so disgusting, I wouldn't be surprised if a whole family of mice would live here."
Throwing the piece of bread into the already full bin, I glanced at Michael.
"How was work? And don't reply with 'it's work' or I'll empty the bin on your bed."
Not that that would be such a horrible thing to do. His bed was probably already filled with all kinds of nasty things, considering how messy his room was. Maybe I could get him to clean it someday. Living like this was gross.
Michael shrugged. "It was like it's been for the past eight years. People bring in their cars and I repair them," he said with a tired voice.
Not content with his reply, I decided to dig a little deeper.
"But you like your job," I concluded. "Otherwise you wouldn't have kept it for so long."
The man who had helped producing me shrugged, a weak gesture from a tired man. "Life doesn't really change a lot once you start getting older," he said. "You just keep doing what you do because you're good at it, and because it's necessary. You need a job, money, things to sustain your family."
"You don't have a family," I stated.
Michael lowered his gaze to his hands. "I wasn't talking about myself."
Snap, I did it again. Hurting him with my words hadn't been my intention yet that was exactly what happened. Why was I so awful at social interactions sometimes?
"I didn't mean it like that," I said slowly, careful about my choice of words. "You do have a family, just not one to come home to every day."
Was that better? I couldn't tell by Michael's indifferent facial expression.
"Any ideas for dinner?" he asked and shot me a weak smile. "I should probably cover that since you're doing all this already."
I turned back to the mess on his counters that had gotten a little less since I had started but was still big enough to be considered horrendous.
"Surprise me," I replied. Dinner was the last thing to bother me right now.
Michael behind me cleared his throat as he fidgeted with a pen he had found. "So, are you going to soccer practice again today?"
I flinched at the anxious tone of his voice.
"That's the plan," I replied. "Although their uniform is the first outfit I have ever tried on that doesn't suit me."
YOU ARE READING
Misfits
Teen FictionLife is full of surprises - and not all of them are good. Kiri Yan has learned that the hard way when his parents announce their sudden divorce and that they need time for themselves, sending him off to live with his biological father for a year. Wh...